Happy May Day!

May 1st always reminds me of May Day in Catholic School when we danced around the statue of Virgin Mary with ribbons and flowers. I still dig Mary, all sweetness and light, none of that gruesome Catholic stuff. May is beautiful, my garden is going off, there are hummingbirds aplenty, its time to plant our summer veggies and a couple of my chickens even laid 2 eggs apiece this morning! That's Little Tina Turner up there hanging out in my studio.

Here's some info on a couple of upcoming shows I'll be in this month. I'm making some pieces for "Nurses and Donuts and Art, OH My," at Psycho Donuts, set to open on May 15...see details below. If you haven't been to Psycho Donuts in Campbell, it's a trip! Come to the opening...my daughter Ivy Atoms will be doing live drawing along with Christine Benjamin. Also adorable artist Trina Merry will be doing some live body painting. And of course there's "Delicious" at Studio gallery in SF, opening May 9th.

If you don't already have it on your calendar, solo show June 4th at Kaleid Gallery, San Jose, hope you can be there! If you'd like to receive my monthly newsletter with noteworthy events please email me at murphyadams@sbcglobal.net.
Thanks!
Murph

Delicious Exhibits Coming Up in SJ and SF

artwork by Lacey Bryant

Donuts and Nurses and Art, Oh My! at Psycho Donuts in Campbell

Reception: Saturday, May 15th 10AM to 3PM
Show runs from April 27th to June 6th 2010

Psycho artists are working around the clock, driving themselves crazy - in preparation for "Donuts and Nurses and Art, Oh My!" Check out original affordable artwork by local artists - like Christine Benjamin, Lacey Bryant, Michael Foley, Sheri DeBow, Eric Joyner, Simon Salas, Murphy Adams, Nic Caesar, Michael Borja, John Hageman, Michelle Waters and more.

Artist Trina Merry will entertain audiences with her live body painting and artists Christine Benjamin and Ivy Atoms will be on sight painting some cool creatures on canvas!

Come for one of the world's best donuts, and "Psycho Killer" coffee; stay for the art!

Psycho Donuts
2006 S. Winchester Blvd.
Campbell, CA 95008
408-378-4540

HOURS
Monday - Thursday 6am-9pm
Friday 6am-11pm | Saturday 7am-11pm | Sunday 7am-9pm

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art work by Christine Benjamin

Delicious Show Work Inspired by Food & Drink at STUDIO Gallery in San Francisco

Reception: Sunday, May 9th, 2-6 pm
Show runs from May 5th - June 6th 2010

The Bay Area's twin passions, Food and Art, come together in Delicious, our annual show of work inspired by food and drink. This year's show--our sixth!--is bigger and better than ever: over 100 local artists bring their talents to the party. There's something for every appetite: lovely views of farms and Wine Country vineyards, terrific still lifes, scenes of local eateries and bars, plus a bit of retro flair. Each year there are themes that emerge: this year there's a lot of red, a lot of smaller, affordable pieces, fewer vegetables and more junk food. But if pressed, we would have to dub 2010 The Year of Bacon: the show has a number of witty depictions of that favorite cured meat product.

STUDIO
1815 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
415.931.3130

HOURS
Wednesday - Friday, 11am-8pm
Saturday + Sunday, 11am-6pm
Closed Monday + Tuesday, except by appointment

Illustration Friday, April 23

Today's Topic on illustration Friday is ahead. This one is called "My Bike is Faster than Yours". Lots of crazy bicyclists here in Nor-Cal trying to stay ahead of one another!
http://www.illustrationfriday.com/

Mark your Calendar: Two New Shows this Spring!

What better excuse to blow off dishes and laundry and especially cleaning the bathroom than to make art! I have 2 shows coming up in May and June and have been in the studio everyday working my little (ok big, I have man hands) fingers to the bone making art.

The first show is called "Delicious" at Studio Gallery in San Francisco. If you haven't been to this great little gallery, you're missing out! The directors Jennifer and Rab are amazing and have a great eye for some awesome Bay Area artists. I've bought a few pieces in there, I just can't help myself. Two of my favorites are Bill Dunlap and Richard Benbrook. Anyways "Delicious" is a show all about art inspired by food and drink, I've done 4 pieces for this show, including this one, which is kind of a self portrait entitled "If You're not Careful".


Delicious at Studio Gallery
www.studiogallerysf.com
1815 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 931-3130
Opening Reception: Sunday, May 9, 2-6pm
The show runs through June 6th

The other show is a SOLO Show! Yes you heard it here first! Well, there's actually 2 solo shows going on simultaneously at Kaleid Gallery in June, I just happen to be one of them. I'm going all out on this one. In addition to a selection of new small paintings, I've been working on slab clay and mosaic pieces, art dolls, canvasses and some clay sculpture. I'm still trying to think of a title for the show. I have a long list of possibilities but nothing's jumped out at me yet, I'll keep you posted. The show opens on June 4th, which is First Friday in Downtown San Jose & there's an artwalk so all the galleries will have openings. There will be tasty vittles and live music and I'll probably do some serious baking, which is actually something I'm quite good at. If you're local please try and come! In any case my studio looks like a bomb went off but I'm making lots of progress with my clay work...I can't wait to fire and glaze these puppies. The pieces below will be assembled with broken tiles and the like, I'm really excited about these!

Kaleid Gallery

www.kaleidgallery.com

88 South 4th Street
San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 947-1785
Opening Reception; Friday June 4th 7-9pm
The show runs through June 26th

Illustration Friday

Today's Illustration Friday prompt was "Detective". This piece is called "Still Searching". She's definitely a detective, searching for love, the meaning of life, or maybe just her keys.

Murphy Adams: A Brief History of Me in 20 Pictures (based on a true story)

A few weeks back I did a little presentation as part of Kaleid Gallery's $2. Tuesday Quirky Lecture Series. I knew I just couldn't go up there and talk about my work so I decided to use this old overhead projector that my husband hauled home and do some drawings on transparencies. Although I was quite nervous, I thought for sure I would pee my pants, but it went over pretty well. Anyways a few people have asked that I put it up on my blog...so here goes! Hope you like it....its very informative. Please let me know what you think!

Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be an artist

or the fastest runner in the world. Sometimes I would run as far and as fast as I could. I got lost alot.

I went to Catholic School when there were still nuns. The Sisters of Mercy (dun,dun, dun)

My real name is Mary, but my father thought it too plain for a girl like me so he called me Murphy

At school there were 2 other Mary's in my class, so using my middle name the nuns called me Mary-Lea.

The refused to call me Murphy. They said it was a drunk Irishman's name (I think they were referring to Father Murphy.

The nuns used to hit me in the fingers with a ruler if they caught me drawing in class.

I once drew a picture of my teacher who we called Muffin (she was old and puffy) and our principal who we called Beaver (she had buck teeth) and I got a spanking on my bare butt bootie in the cloak room.

After they let me out of Catholic school I went to public school. My art teacher there thought I was pretty special. But then I found out he had married a couple of his former students once they graduated Ewwww.

I went to art school in the 80's. Art then was about light and space and nothing interesting. I didn't get it or fit in. It made me feel insecure about my work.

I finished college and became a gallery director and curator. I only did art in secret.

I got married...to a bad man

Then I replaced him with a good man (he's not really Canadian)

We live a simple happy life filled with art & nature & pets & laughter. We had 2 babies who grew up to be artists in their own right.

Along the way I tried many jobs to keep our little boat afloat including waitressing, teaching comedy traffic school, even a phone sex operator. But what I really needed was to find my way back to art.

I started teaching art to kids. They were fearless, uncompromising and uncritical. They were inspiring.

I got a bit older and brought my art out in the open, I liked what I saw, others did too. I felt comfortable in my old skin as an artist.

My work is about what I see out of the corner of my eye.
Its about the things we think about but never talk about.
Its about raw emotion, those indescribable feelings that can't be put into words.

I make art everyday. I create painting and sculpture an do large public artworks. I have traveled full circle and returned to the artist that I always was.